Stojakovic, Jones propel Pacers over Nets

Jones scored 11 of his 22 in the fourth quarter and also grabbed seven boards.
Anthony Johnson and Danny Granger each netted 13 and Stephen Jackson and David
Harrison had 12 points apiece for the Pacers, who snapped a two-game skid and
a six-game road losing streak.

“It started when we gave up 36 points in the second quarter,” said Kidd. “We
were playing uphill from that point. We got it down to five, and I thought I
had a good look on a 3 that went in-and-out, and they came down and hit a 3
and the rest was academic.”

Vince Carter scored four points before leaving the game in the first quarter
with a cramp in his right hamstring.

Kidd’s jumper with the clock running down gave the Nets a 22-21 edge after 12
minutes of play.

With the Pacers leading 36-28, consecutive treys by Scott Padgett and Kidd
began an 8-2 run, which pulled New Jersey within 38-36. However, the Pacers
closed the quarter with a 19-8 spurt, capped by Stojakovic’s hook shot, to
give Indiana a 57-44 lead at the half.

Throughout most of the third quarter the Nets could not overcome the physical
dominance or the shooting prowess of the Pacers.

However, after trailing by as many 15, New Jersey closed the third quarter
with a 10-0 spurt, including four points apiece from Jefferson and Kidd, to
narrow the gap to 75-70 heading into the final frame.

Indiana opened the fourth quarter on a 10-5 run, with Stojakovic and Jones
each nailing a pair of jumpers, to extend the lead to 85-75. Kidd
drained a three followed by a jumper to make the score 85-80, but Jones
connected with a long distance shot on the other end to put the Pacers ahead
88-80 with 5:23 to play.

The Nets would get as close as 96-89 on a pair of Lamond Murray free throws,
but Indiana put the game away at the line, shooting 3-of-4 from the charity
stripe in the final minute.

The Pacers connected on 48 percent of their shots, while the Nets shot 43
percent from the field. Indiana won the rebounding battle 47-33.

Game Notes

Johnson dished out 10 assists and Harrison pulled down eight boards…New
Jersey had not let a team score 100 points or more since Seattle on January
28…The Nets have won 14 of their last 16 at home…Indiana’s Jeff Foster
grabbed 16 boards…New Jersey’s Nenad Krstic, who went 11-of-11 against New
York on Friday for 23 points, scored four points on 1-of-6
shooting…Jefferson needed three assists entering the contest for 1,000 for
his career…New Jersey’s Clifford Robinson, who needed three points to move
ahead of Gail Goodrich (19,181) for 36th place on the all-time scoring list,
scored 11 points.